Reed-plate for musical instruments



(No Model.) 4 F. J. BRAND.

REED PLATE FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

No. 338,836. Patented Mar. 23, 1886.

Witnesses: V fnven tar UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK J. BRAND, OF SOU'IHINGTON, CONNECTICUT.

REED-PLATE FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.338.336, dated March 23, 1886.

Application filed May 27, 1885. Serial No. 166,824. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK J. BRAND, a citizen of the United States, residing at Southlngton, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Reed-Plates for Mus1eal Instruments, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of the under side of the bar from which the reed-plates are cut, and Fig. 2 is a view of the upper side. Fig. 3 1s a View of the under side of a reed-plate.

Fig. 4 is an end view of a reed-plate with flat edges, and Fig. 5 with rounded edges. Fig. 6

is a section on line at, Fig. 1.

Heretofore reed plates or blocks have been made from rolled metal, and rolled metal is liable to be uneven in thickness and hardness for various reasons. Different velocities of the rolls, soft places in the rolls, and the rolls not being true and perfectly cylindrical pro duce unevenness in the rolled metal as to thickness, while unevenness in annealing the metal produces unevenness as to hardness. Reedplates punched from rolled metal and finished in the usual way are subject to these defects. Plates have also been made by rolling metal into bars of the proper thickness and width, and by forming the recesses or grooves in the bars by the rolls; but by all of the methods in which rolled metal has been used to form plates milling of their edges or sides is required to finish the plates.

The object of my invention is to remedy the defects in the metal as far as possible and to dispense with milling either the sides or edges of the plates.

To this end the invention consists, partly, in making the reed-plates of bars of metal which have been drawn through a plate or die to the requisite width and thickness, whereby the qualities of evenness as to size and hardness are imparted to the bars from which the plates are formed.

The invention consists, further, in forming the various grooves and throats in the bars before they are cut up or separated into plates, as is hereinafter more fully described and explained.

To enable others to make my improved plates, I will give a detailed description of their manufacture.

A completed reed-plate, A, is shown in Fig. 3, and it does not differ in appearance from a reed-plate punched from rolled metal and then finished, or from a reed'plate which has been rolled from a bar of metal, the grooves being formed by the rolls and the throat afterward punched, and yet it differs from both as drawn metal differs from rolled-namely, in greater evenness as to hardness.

The under side of a bar, B, is shown in Fig. 1, from which reed-plates are formed by punching from the bar the part a, (indicated by broken lines on two of its sides.) Grooves b are formed in this side of the bar with inclined sides and curved ends, the form of the grooves being determined by the form of the cutter under which the bar is moved to form the grooves. The grooves ext-end nearly through the bar, leaving the thin part c, in which the throats d are punched, and are formed at regular intervals or are equidistant apart. Holes are shown in the bars, through which rivets pass to hold the reeds to the plate.

The upper side of a bar, B, is shown in Fig. 2, and in it are formed the transverse nailgrooves e, for removing the plates from the holders, the distances between the grooves being the same.

The bars from which the plates are formed are drawn through a hardened die, and the perforation in the die may be of such form as to make the edges of the plates flat or rounded, as preferred. The perforation is finished and highly polished and imparts its finish to the bars. These bars are cut up or separated into finished plates by punching out the part a.

I am well aware that unsuccessful efforts have been made to form plates by rolling rods into bars and forming grooves in the bars at one operation, milling the sides of the bars, and cutting the bars into plates; but

\Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by 7 

